Arts: Storytellers and Raconteurs: Central Asia

(1,111 words)

The women storytellers and raconteurs of Central Asia creatively use a range of stories that they believe form a common Islamic tradition. The women storytellers use the dastan ( jir,ir,chorchok) genre, which is a form of ornate oral history, widespread among the people of Central Asia. These dastans have transmitted treasured and respected value systems from one generation to the next. Considered to be the enduring record of a people or a confederation, the stories constitute a unifying bond in the consciousness of people whose lives and ex…